The most important player to the Broncos' secondary is back. And nope, it's not Champ Bailey (mercifully, because Bailey on Sunday sure didn't look like Champ).

It's pass rusher Von Miller, who returns to practice this week.

"Hey, he's in the secondary with us," cornerback Chris Harris said of the group's honorary member. "The offensive game plans change totally different when 58 comes in."

The Broncos' secondary is proud, but porous. If the playoffs were this weekend, the secondary would be the weakest link. Entering Sunday's game, Denver had allowed more passing yards than any team in the league. Yes, teams are going to pass more against Denver because they need catches to play catch-up. But if Chad Henne can keep his team in a game, as he did Sunday for Jacksonville, what about Andrew Luck, who is up next?

The issues are many for the Broncos' pass defense. Denver must provide Bailey with more safety help. The team's tackling technique needs to become textbook — enough of this holding-on-for-dear-life stuff. Harris stood out a couple of times Sunday for being out of position. And, on the opening drive, the complexion of the game might have changed if Henne hadn't botched a pass to a receiver so open that he could've run to the DTC before getting caught.

"Absolutely, we've got to get better," safety Rahim Moore said. "We have no choice. If we don't get better, someone else will be in our position."

Something happened Sunday that no one thought would — a football game. But in the end, Denver defeated Jacksonville 35-19 in what was prematurely predicted to a Brock Osweiler second-half showcase. The defense allowed Henne to throw for 303 yards, a week after Tony Romo threw for more than 500.

But Miller will change the dynamic. His voracious rush will force quarterbacks to throw faster, perhaps to receivers who haven't separated enough from the Denver defenders. When it comes to the Broncos, it is Peyton Manning who is known for the "hurry, hurry," but that'll change once Miller returns into the defensive scheme. I say on some passing downs Denver should consider bookending the line with Miller and Shaun Phillips, while putting Derek Wolfe inside alongside Malik Jackson.

"Just a dominating mind-set, he's unstoppable to me — and he says he's in better shape than he's been in his life," Moore said from the winning locker room. "It's going to be special, trust me. Remember, I told you that."

Miller is the big name, but let's also not forget that the emerging Wesley Woodyard has essentially missed the past two games because of injury. His speed on the blitz and his ability to chase down tackles, in addition to calling the signals on defense as the middle linebacker, were sorely missed.

As for Bailey, Sunday was, as he said, "no cakewalk." But it was imperative for him to get this game in before the real games begin — next week at Indianapolis, and later in the season against Kansas City (twice) and New England.

"When you have a dynamic player returning to your lineup, he's definitely going to cause some problems for some people," Bailey said of Miller. "But we can't rely on him to do everything. It's an 11-man game out there. So we have to make sure we do our part."

Proud but porous.

After the game, special-teams star David Bruton was a media darling. He had the big run on the fake punt. But he's also one of the more insightful players on the team. The safety said of the secondary: "It hasn't been as consistent as we'd like; it hasn't been spectacular. As competitors in the DB room, we're striving to be great, no matter what the situation is. We have the mind-set to continuously get better. Things aren't going as great as we'd like right now, but it's not saying we're bad players. We're going to knuckle down, grasp it at some point and fire on all cylinders.

"We can win the Super Bowl. (Our secondary) always found a way to knuckle down when we need to, fight through tough situations."

Well, not always, we sadly remember. But with some adjustments and one big addition, maybe the team's weakest link won't be so weak much longer.

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